Last season: The Jazz finished 43-39, but they missed the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Nobody really knew what direction Utah was headed, perhaps including Utah itself. The Jazz kept Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, both on expiring contracts, past the trade deadline to make a playoff push. All they got was the honor of tying the 2010-11 Rockets as the best team in the last four years to miss the playoffs.

Signature highlight from last season: This was really impressive, but Utah still fell just short – /metaphor – by losing in overtime.

Key player changes: Al Jefferson (Bobcats) and Paul Millsap (Hawks) left in free agency, radically altering the Jazz’s identity. Plus two other starters, Mo Williams (signed with Trail Blazers) and Randy Foye (traded to Nuggets), are gone just in case someone wanted to pretend this was business as usual in Utah.

The Jazz re-stocked by drafting Trey Burke and Rudy Gobert in the first round and accepting the contracts of Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins and Brandon with the sweetener of the Warriors’ first-round pick – AKA Utah is tanking.

Keys to the Jazz’s season:

1) How many starters can eventually start on a playoff-series-winning team? Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter give Utah a full lineup of young players who can grow together. Now, the Jazz must decided how many of those five are worth building around. They should get plenty of minutes for evaluation.

3) How much can Utah gain by flipping its veterans? Richard Jefferson, Andris Biedrins, Marvin Williams and Brandon Rush represent more than $30 million in expiring contracts. All four might be able to help contenders on the court, too. Utah kept the expiring contracts of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap last season to make a playoff push. This season, there will be no such illusions. If the Jazz can get future value from those four, they’ll surely take it.

Prediction: 23-59. The Jazz are too far into their rebuild and have already acquired too much young talent to be truly horrific, but they’ll still be bad. All their top players will be placed in the largest roles of their careers, and there will be growing pains. At best, Utah will mirror the 2008-09 Thunder – a team that went 23-59.

I don’t remember playing tonight. I didn’t play. Guys get a lot of money to be ready to play. No Knute Rockne speeches. It’s your job. If you’re a plumber and you don’t do your job, you don’t get any work. I don’t think a plumber needs a pep talk. If a doctor botches operations, he’s not a doctor anymore. If you’re a basketball player, you come ready. It’s called maturity. It’s your job.

Like it or not, motivation is part of an NBA coach’s job.

But that’s also precisely what Popovich is doing.

His credentials dwarf any other coach’s. He can play to his own ego and absolve himself of responsibility – and players will seek to please him. His years of success have earned him the ability to motivate this way, a method no other coach could use without alienating his team.

So, why not hold Motiejunas to what became a four-year, $31 million offer sheet once matched? Houston got something in return – a later trigger date on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ 2017-18 salary. Originally, that decision had to be made March 1 – which would’ve meant dropping Motiejunas from the team this season to prevent his salary from counting next season. Now, the Rockets can make that call in July, after this season is complete.

The following two Julys, Houston will also have a choice on guaranteeing Motiejunas’ upcoming salary or dropping him.

Essentially, Motiejunas is signing the most lucrative Hinkie Special in NBA history. If he plays well and stays healthy, the Rockets have Motiejunas at an affordable rate. If he struggles or his back injuries flare up, they can drop him with little to no penalty.

After they backed themselves into this corner, Motiejunas and his agent, B.J. Armstrong, didn’t do so bad. Considering the similarity between this contract and the Nets’ original offer sheet, it seems Houston helped Armstrong save face after a bungled free agency (which is easier to accept when you’re adding a talented reserve to a formidable team).

But for how little is guaranteed and how much control the Rockets hold over the next four years, wouldn’t Motiejunas have been better off accepting the $4,433,683 qualifying offer?

This means Motiejunas can’t sign with the Nets, who signed him to the original offer sheet, for one year.

I bet it also means Motiejunas and Houston have agreed to a new contract. Otherwise, why release him from the offer sheet? The Rockets would be giving up a tremendous amount of leverage out of the goodness of their hearts – unless this is just a prelude to a new deal with Houston.